1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communication devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to measuring interference in the radiofrequency (RF) environment of wireless communication devices.
2. Background of the Invention
Wireless communication devices are proliferating across the market. The increasing ubiquity of cellular telephones has carriers scrambling to provide faster, more efficient, and larger wireless networks. Further, the fusion of IP and cellular technology is allowing more and more people, businesses, and industries to use these wireless networks for a wide variety of purposes.
This has led to wireless networks being used for non-mobile applications. For instance, fixed wireless terminals are being installed or embedded in a variety of equipment for a variety of purposes. For instance, vending machines use wireless technology to transmit stock updates to the local distributors. Traffic signals and cameras use wireless networks to transmit statistics as well as violations of the law to law-enforcement agencies. This emerging field of reporting updates wirelessly is known as telemetry.
Unfortunately, the increasing concentration of wireless radio waves in the environment results in such fixed terminals being susceptible to noise and interference. Either the signal strength of the provider's network is not strong enough, or a third-party network's signal is generating strong interference. Sometimes even proximally-placed electronic objects such as televisions and microwave ovens result in unacceptable levels of noise, resulting in a communication breakdown between the embedded wireless device in the equipment and the provider's network.
Diagnosing these issues has its own problems. Since the wireless transceivers embedded in this equipment is generally not meant to be operated by humans, it is essentially transparent to a user (i.e., hidden away somewhere). At present, one of the only ways to diagnose RF connection issues to the network is to measure the noise in the RF environment around the affected equipment. This is typically accomplished by sending an engineer or technician to the site itself, and performing local spectrum analysis measurements. This approach is expensive, time-consuming and does not always solve the problem. Especially when connection issues are intermittent, it is not always convenient to send a technician to a site at a time when the connection will break. This results in frequent misdiagnoses. Even if measurements are made by a spectrum analyzer incorporated within the equipment, the stored measurements have to be accessed locally, especially when connection issues are presently prevalent.
What is needed is a way to automate the process of measuring and reporting noise and interference in an RF field around a wireless communication device.